Snorkeler

I am looking for feedback between RCI and Princess regarding their Southern Caribbean cruises. I sailed on Celebrity's Mercury about 8 years ago I found the food and entertainment to be excellent. My only complaint is that I found the clientel alot older. I was 31 and now I am 39. I have read reviews indicating that the food is not good on either RCI or Princess, depending on which restaurant you choose. I don't want to feel like I am "nickel and dimed".
Questions:
which cruise line has better food?
which cruise line has better shore excursions?
which cruise line you felt was a better value?
My main reason for choosing the Southern route is to try new snorkeling sites.
I have been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.
Any comment on Southern islands?
Thanks.

spurs

I don't think "the food is not good on either RCL or Princess" are correct words. Food is very subjective and what you don't like somebody else may find excellent. I found the food to be O.K. on RCL and better on Princess. You will find to be about equally nickel & dimed on both but this is business, and nobody forces you to pay for what you don't need. I think Princess is overall a better value since their prices are usually lower and you can get a good discount when booking through agent.

juliaelzie

Princess is considered to be a premium cruise line and RCCL is considered to be a moderate cruise line. But, prices are the basically the same as are the itineraries. Princess has the Personal Choice dining, where you can eat in the main dining room, at the buffet or in the smaller themed restaurants.

It is standard restaurant food, so some meals are better than others. But, most meals are included in your fare, so if you don't like something, order something else!

Right now, most people prefer to book their shore excursions through separate tour operators. The cruise line shore excursions are expensive and crowded, so you really feel like a tourist and that you didn't really get the most for your money or experience.

I take 2-3 cruises each year and I try to stick with the free beverages on the ship. I may have wine for dinner on 1-2 nights, or pop when I have a craving. They will offer many pretty cocktails with umbrellas, but you can politely decline. I politely, but you often must be insistent, and decline the ship pictures. You must assume that everything costs extra, but I don't feel like I've been "nickeled-and-dimed" (nor does my shipboard account) at the end of a cruise.

In short, I buy what I really want and politely decline everything else.

Best Regards,
Julia

luluflorida

a southern caribean cruise is a wonderful route. you will find that royal is more family style while princess is a little bit more up scale. the food is fine on both ship lines. and if you dont like one choose something else. my sons go to the dining room and chose the entire menu every night. its the best way to taste new foods and see what you like. the shore excursions are the same on both ships. have a great time and try to get involved. read the daily papers each day that the ship sends to your room and map out your day. have a fun time on which ever ship you end up on.

kfusto

I do not agree that Princess is considered a step up from Princess. If you go to cruisecritic there are tons of reviews on both.

I would suggest Serenade of the Seas if you liked Mercury. She is not so large as the Crown Princess (way too many passengers for the size of the ship), the ship itself is stunning and the entertainment options are endless.

I think RCI's food is decent but it is not going to be like Celebrity's.

If you read the postings about the Crown Princess, you will see that extra charge items abound, even the adult only Santuary charges you just to be there. WHile I am willing to pay just about anything to avoid kids, some may not be so inclined.

I think you will find RCI more lively and more casual.

Many recent Crown cruisers have complained that they now approach you at dinner to try and sell you stuff and I find that incredibly obnoxious.

LoveMexico

Snorkeler - we found the food on the Golden Princess to be wonderful but as someone else said - others will not find it as good - you can't please everyone - There were eight of us (50/60s) and we all felt the food in the main dining rooms was as good if not better than most upscale restaurants. We did not try any of the restaurants where you had to pay extra. We are going again this March on the new Crown Princess and hopefully will find consistency between the food on the two Princess ships.

kfusto - what type of things are they trying to sell you at dinner on the Crown - we are going in March - we were on the Golden last year and had the option of buying liquer glasses (if we bought a liquer at dinner) but they were definitely not agressive in their approach - it was simply offered. Actually they also had a cook book but again no pressure.......

kfusto

Don't know as I have only cruised on Princess once years ago and did not return.

cruisecritic is the best source for current data.

Snorkeler

I wish to thank all who gave their opinons and experiences. I am leaning towards RCI. I will be making my final decision once I do a little more research.
Have a great day!
Paul

jacketwatch

Personally and even though food evaluation is a subjective matter my vote for better quality is Princess which also gets my vote for better all around value. As for shore excursions I can't help here as we try to do it ourselves though I will say our Alaska shore excursions which we did from Princess were excellent. I agree about using cruice critic as a very good resource. We have never been solicited at dinner by Princess except for photos one night which is a practice not uncommon on mass market lines. Good luck, Larry

LLindaC

I think the ship is as important as the cruise line. We tried Caribbean Princess last year and thought the design of the ship was terrible. Many times, we couldn't get in to see shows even though we got there a half hour before and earlier. The large RCCL ships handle crowds and entertaining crowds MUCH better. On Princess, we sat in the thatre and stared at a red curtain till show time. RCCL always had comics, clowns, music, etc. Much better overall entertainment. I've never gone hungry on a ship. It's not gourmet, but my favorite restaurants in the states do not float under the moonlight at night.

leeshiebean

I was very pleased on my recent cruise with RCI. I ate at the buffet for both breakfast and lunch, and I found there to be a wide variety, from pastas, fruits, meats, and comfort foods like pizza, sandwiches and hamburgers and hot dogs. I'm 23 and not a very picky eater, but I do know decent food when I see (or taste?) it. Buffet food is not exactly gourmet, but it was still good. And I found the dinners to be very good as well, not to mention our waiter brought us SEVERAL plates of each course if he could tell we enjoyed it.
I thought RCI offered a good variety of shore excursions, I did Snuba in St. Thomas, snorkeling in Labadee and a rainforest tour in Puerto Rico. Go to their website, pick a cruise you'd be interested in, and view the excursions and see if they interest you.